A University of Colorado committee recommended on Wednesday that the system make 40 changes in its tenure policies, to deal with significant problems that were manifested, critics said, in the ease with which Ward Churchill received tenure.

The recommendations, which appear in a 431-page report by the committee, include conducting tenure reviews every five years, completing dismissal cases within six months, adding criminal-background checks to the hiring process, pushing for consistent approaches to tenuring both within and across departments, collecting better data on tenure, clarifying expectations for faculty members seeking tenure or facing dismissal, and making it clear on an annual basis when faculty members are not meeting expectations.

The report, which was overseen by an outsider—a retired Air Force general named Howell M. Estes III—says that its overall goal is to restore public confidence in tenure at the university, a key consideration in the wake of the Churchill affair (The Chronicle, January 6).

The committee, which was convened at the suggestion of faculty members themselves and led by the provost of the university’s Denver campus, Mark A. Heckler, submitted the report to the Board of Regents. Before the regents vote on whether to adopt the recommendations, there will be a public-comment period and a debate in the Faculty Council.